Asked by: Kerry McCarthy (Labour - Bristol East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support private investment in ocean recovery.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Ocean conservation and the protection of marine biodiversity is a global challenge and one that is critically underfunded. Through the UK’s £500m UK aid Blue Planet Fund and in line with the 10 Point Plan for Financing Biodiversity and the International Development White Paper, we are supporting innovative projects that aim to attract and scale up private investment in ocean recovery. These initiatives include restoration and protection of blue carbon habitats and increasing coastal community resilience, funded through programmes led by the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (£13.9m), the World Bank’s sustainable blue economies programme- PROBLUE (£37.5m), and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (£33m), amongst others. In June 2023, Lord Benyon hosted a joint UK-GFCR Investors Roundtable event, which showcased the GFCR as a viable investment opportunity and supported investor mobilisation for the GFCR Investment fund. At 28th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28), the GFCR Coalition announced the mobilisation of more than $200 million USD as an initial direct investment toward the newly established 2030 Coral Reef Breakthrough targets, these include mobilising $12bn for corals and protecting 125,000 km2 of corals (50% of ~250,000km2 global total) by 2030.
As set out in Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy, we are also taking action to meet our target to raise £1bn in private finance into nature’s recovery in England every year by 2030, both on land and at sea.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) economic, (2) logistical and (3) technological support they are providing to ensure that sea-level rise does not endanger the continued existence of Small Island States.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Building resilience to the impacts of climate change, economic shocks and natural disasters is at the heart of the UK vision for Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Our £11.6 billion commitment for climate finance and our role as a major contributor to global climate funds has enabled the UK to support SIDS resilience. We will provide $2 billion to the Green Climate Fund's (GCF) second replenishment (2024-27). This equates to £1.623 billion and is the biggest single funding commitment the UK has made to help the world tackle climate change. We provide approximately £200 million of aid annually to SIDS, including:
• the £36 million Sustainable Blue Economies (SBE) programme supporting development of prosperous ocean-based economies while protecting nature and increasing climate resilience.
• £40 million 'Small Island Developing State Capacity and Resilience' (SIDAR) programme, supporting better access to funding and building state resilience.
• The UK's £350 million Caribbean Infrastructure Fund supports resilient infrastructure for states acutely vulnerable to natural disasters as does our £10 million contribution to the Infrastructure for Resilient Island States (IRIS) facility (announced at COP26 by PM Modi and PM Johnson). We are also providing further support to SIDS through other global Blue Planet Fund programmes, including being part of Defra's Ocean Country Partnership Programme (£65 million), the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (£33 million), and Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (£13.9 million).
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what range of impact assessments they expect Thames Water to provide regarding the consequences for local wildlife habitats arising from construction of their proposed Teddington direct river abstraction on green spaces categorised as Metropolitan Open Land, such as Ham Lands and Moormead Park in St Margaret’s.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Thames Water is required to provide further assessments through the RAPID (Regulators Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development) gated planning process to ensure that all potential impacts of the Teddington direct river abstraction (DRA) scheme are assessed and investigated, including any impacts on green spaces. The design and location of elements of the scheme are still at the conceptual design stage of development. Any scheme developed will have to meet environmental and planning requirements. The suite of assessments required will depend on the final design of the scheme and nature/location of impacts which are expected to be identified through the Gate 3 planning process.
The proposed Teddington DRA is expected to take the Development Consent Order planning route, which will require an Environmental Impact Assessment of the scheme’s impacts as part of the planning process. Where possible we expect environmental enhancements to be included in the scheme design.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) protect and (b) restore marine (i) habitats and (ii) wildlife.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Net zero policy tracker: March 2023 update by Green Alliance, published on 17 March; and in particular, what assessment they have made of the finding that only 28 per cent of emissions reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050 are covered by confirmed policies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Net Zero Growth Plan sets out the package that will meet carbon budgets. The Government has met every Carbon Budget to date and through the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan has set out quantified proposals and policies to exceed Carbon Budgets 4 and 5 and 97% of Carbon Budget 6.
Asked by: Baroness Boycott (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Net zero policy tracker: March 2023 update, published by Green Alliance on 17 March; and in particular, the finding that only 28 per cent of emissions reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050 are covered by confirmed policies.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Net Zero Growth Plan sets out the package that will meet carbon budgets. The Government has met every Carbon Budget to date and through the Carbon Budget Delivery Plan has set out quantified proposals and policies to exceed Carbon Budgets 4 and 5 and 97% of Carbon Budget 6.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of Elfbar UK regarding the disposal of its products after use.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency has the responsibility for compliance monitoring registered producers under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations and for investigating and enforcing against producers that do not register.
There have been no direct discussions between Defra and Elfbar but the Environment Agency has been informed that Green Fun Alliance Ltd import Elfbar products. Green Fun Alliance are registered as a producer under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations.
Asked by: Kim Leadbeater (Labour - Batley and Spen)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 26 January to Question 126656 on Parks, for what reason the Park Action Group has not met since 2019; when it is scheduled to meet; and if he will publish the membership of the Group.
Answered by Dehenna Davison
As per my answer of 26 January 2023, the Government recognises that parks and green spaces are vital to communities and the people they serve, which is why the £9 million Levelling Up Parks Fund (LUPF) announced in August 2021 as part of the Levelling Up agenda will help to increase accessibility to quality green space across the UK, and level up areas which are most deprived of green space and provide communities with a place to come together.
The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders.
The membership of the Park Action Group were: Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Department for Education (DfE), Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Home Office (HO), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE), Fields in Trust, Local Government Association (LGA), Parks Alliance, Natural England, National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces (NFPGS), Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), Groundwork, National Trust, Keep Britain Tidy, National Association of Local Councils (NALC), Parks Practitioner, Public Health England and Sport England.
Asked by: Abena Oppong-Asare (Labour - Erith and Thamesmead)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he expects the UK to meet its Global Ocean Alliance 30by30 target to protect England's seas by 2030.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Since 2019, the UK has been leading the Global Ocean Alliance of countries championing ambitious ocean action under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including the target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 which was agreed at the CBD COP15 in Montreal, December 2022.
The 30by30 target is a global target. Nearly 8.3% of the global ocean is now protected. Achieving a global 30by30 target will require an international effort, from all countries and sectors. The UK is leading the way. We have established a comprehensive network of 374 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covering 40% of English waters, and we are now focusing on making sure they are properly protected.
The Government is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea in the UK by 2030 (30by30). We consulted on our approach to 30by30 in the Nature Recovery Green Paper, which closed in May 2022. We are now in the process of analysing responses and will publish a Government response on conclusion of this exercise.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the number of green jobs in Washington and Sunderland West constituency.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department is working with the Deparment for Education and local partners to ensure green skills are considered through Local Skills Improvement Plans, which will set out the key skills needs and the priority changes required to provision in an area. The North East Automotive Alliance has been designated to work with a range of employers to lead the Local Skills Improvement Plan for the area which includes Washington and Sunderland West. The Secretary of State for Education may only approve a Plan if satisfied that there has been consideration of the skills related to net zero targets, climate change adaptation, and other environmental goals.
Latest official statistics show there are already around 430,000 jobs in low carbon businesses and their supply chains across the country, and the Government is working with the Green Jobs Delivery Group to explore how central government, local government and businesses can further support local areas to deliver a successful net zero labour market transition.